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| United States Patent |
5,295,888
|
|
Tsutsumi
|
March 22, 1994
|
Saving box
Abstract
A saving box has a cylindrical box body with a closed bottom, a plurality
of coin reservoirs each having a different diameter and formed on the
closed bottom at proper spaces in a predetermined direction in order of
diameter, a sorting disc acting as an upper surface of the box body and
provided with a plurality of openings corresponding to the coin
reservoirs, a guide sleeve formed within the box body at a central portion
thereof and having a vertical groove, an operating rod engaging with the
vertical groove and extending upwardly of the box body, a coil spring
disposed within the guide sleeve and normally biasing the operating rod
upwardly, a moving blade slightly contacting an upper surface of the
sorting disc and engaging a spiral groove formed in an outer peripheral
surface of the operating rod, an outer surface disc overlaid on and spaced
away, by a predetermined distance, from an upper surface of the moving
blade and having a coin insertion port, and a soft formative substance
having a proper form mounted on the surface disc, an upper extension end
of the operating rod being in opposite relation to an inner surface of a
top portion of the soft formative substance.
| Inventors:
|
Tsutsumi; Teruhiro (Hamamatsu, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Shintowa Industry, Co., Ltd. (Shizuoka, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
093357 |
| Filed:
|
July 16, 1993 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Jul 30, 1992[JP] | 4-064192[U] |
| Current U.S. Class: |
446/10; 232/5 |
| Intern'l Class: |
A45C 001/12 |
| Field of Search: |
446/8-13,241
232/4 R,5,1 D
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 944038 | Dec., 1909 | Huyck et al. | 446/8.
|
| 2213915 | Sep., 1940 | Katz | 446/241.
|
| 2218431 | Oct., 1940 | McGee | 446/8.
|
| 3242931 | Mar., 1966 | Wandrey | 232/5.
|
| 5055079 | Oct., 1991 | Hobson et al. | 446/8.
|
Primary Examiner: Yu; Mickey
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Darby & Darby
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A saving box according comprising:
a cylindrical box body having a closed bottom;
a plurality of coin reservoirs each having a different diameter and formed
on said closed bottom at proper spaces in a predetermined direction in
order of diameter;
a sorting disc acting as an upper surface of said box body and provided
with a plurality of openings corresponding to said coin reservoirs;
a guide sleeve formed within said box body at a central portion thereof and
having a vertical groove;
an operating rod engaging with said vertical groove and extending upwardly
of said box body;
spring means disposed within said guide sleeve and normally biasing said
operating rod upwardly;
moving blade means slightly contacting an upper surface of said sorting
disc and engaging a spiral groove formed in an outer peripheral surface of
said operating rod;
an outer surface disc overlaid on and spaced away, by a predetermined
distance, from an upper surface of said moving blade means and having a
coin insertion port; and
a soft formative substance having a proper form mounted on said surface
disc, an upper extension end of said operating rod being in opposite
relation to an inner surface of a top portion of said soft formative
substance.
2. A saving box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spring means is a coil
spring.
3. A saving box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving blade means has
a single blade.
4. A saving box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving blade means has
a plurality of blades.
5. A saving box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said soft formative
substance is in the form of an animal.
6. A saving box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said soft formative
substance is in the form of a doll.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a saving box in which various kinds of coins are
sorted and saved separately.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Many types of saving boxes in the sense of structure and design are
heretofore known. Since there are so many types of them already known to
us, it seems that there is almost no new area where further development is
to be made. As a method for sorting coins, there are shape sorting, weight
sorting, and material sorting, wherein the coins are sorted in accordance
with shape, weight and material.
From our long experiences that the saving boxes are regarded as something
very familiar to our daily life, we learn that saving boxes, which are
simple in structure, easy to handle, and unique in appearance, tend to
receive more attention than those which are elaborated in-technique and
complicated in structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide, in order to
cope with the above-mentioned tendency, a saving box which is simple in
structure, easy to handle, and attractive in appearance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a saving box which
makes every one feel something close to himself in daily life and which
enriches the daily life.
To achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is
provided a saving box comprising a cylindrical box body having a closed
bottom, a plurality of coin reservoirs each having a different diameter
and formed on the closed bottom at proper spaces in a predetermined
direction in order of diameter, a sorting disc acting as an upper surface
of the box body and provided with a plurality of openings corresponding to
the coin reservoirs, a guide sleeve formed within the box body at a
central portion thereof and having a vertical groove, an operating rod
engaging with the vertical groove and extending upwardly of the box body,
spring means disposed within the guide sleeve and normally biasing the
operating rod upwardly, moving blade means slightly contacting an upper
surface of the sorting disc and engaging a spiral groove formed in an
outer peripheral surface of the operating rod, an outer surface disc
overlaid on and spaced away, by a predetermined distance, from an upper
surface of the moving blade means and having a coin insertion port, and a
soft formative substance having a proper form mounted on the surface disc,
an upper extension end of the operating rod being in opposite relation to
an inner surface of a top portion of the soft formative substance.
The above and other objects and further features and advantages of the
present invention will become more manifest to those skilled in the art
upon a reading of the following detailed description with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a centrally vertical cross-sectional front view of a saving box
according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a partly cutaway plan view of the above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT
One preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical box body having
a closed bottom. A plurality of vertically communicating coin reservoirs 2
extending along an inner wall of the box body 1 are formed at
predetermined spaces on the closed bottom within the box body 1. A sorting
disc 3 acting as an upper surface of the box body 1 is provided with a
plurality of openings 4 which correspond to the coin reservoirs 2,
respectively. Each coin reservoir 2 has a different diameter, and the coin
reservoirs 2 are arranged in a predetermined direction in order of
diameter.
A guide sleeve 6 having a vertical groove 5 is formed at a central portion
within the box body 1. An operating rod 8 extending upwardly of the box
body 1 is fitted into the guide groove 5 while engaging with the vertical
groove 5, and normally biased upwardly by spring means 7 such as a coil
spring.
A spiral groove 9 is formed in an outer periphery of the operating rod 8. A
moving blade means 10 is normally engaged with the spiral groove 9 and
lightly contacted with an upper surface of the sorting disc 3. In this
embodiment, the blade means 10 is comprised of three blades, but the
number of the blades is not limited to three. In other words, the number
of the blades may be single or plural.
A surface disc 11 is overlaid on an upper surface of the moving blade means
10 so that the moving blade means 10 is prevented from being raised
upwardly. A coin insertion port 12 is formed in a predetermined location
of the surface disc 11, and a sleeve 13 for preventing the sway of the
operating rod 8 is provided to a central portion of the surface disc 11,
so that vertical movement of the operating rod 8 is protected.
A soft formative substance 14 is mounted on the upper surface of the
surface disc 11. The operating rod 8 extending through the formative
substance 14 is placed at its extension end opposite to an inner surface
of a top portion of the formative substance 14. This formative substance
14 may be selected from animals, dolls, etc.
With the above-mentioned construction of the present invention, the
operating rod 8 is in its uppermost position when a coin is not inserted.
It is designed such that the coin insertion port 12 of the surface disc 11
is not in alignment with the openings 4 of the sorting disc 3.
When a particular coin is inserted into the coin insertion port 12 and the
top portion of the formative substance 14 is pushed down (the operating
rod may be pushed down first and then the coin may be inserted), the
formative substance is compressed to change its original shape and the
operating rod 8 is lowered downwardly along the vertical groove 5 within
the guide sleeve 6 against the resiliency of the spring means 7. In
accordance with the downward movement of the operating rod 8, the moving
blade means 10 engaged with the spiral groove 9 is rotated to move the
coin inserted through the coin insertion port 12 in a planar direction on
the sorting disc 3 and finally drop the coin down into one of the coin
reservoirs 2 the diameter of which corresponds to that of the coin. At
that time, when the downward pressure to the operating rod 8 is released,
the distal end of the operating rod 8 is returned to its uppermost
position under the influence of the spring means 7 as the deformed
formative substance 14 recovers its original shape.
During the course of compression and recovery of the formative substance 14
in accordance with the downward and returning movements of the operating
rod 8, the formative substance 14, which resembles, for example, an animal
or a doll, is changed in shape, appearance, etc. This change in shape,
appearance, etc. of the formative substance 14 immensely attracts the
attention of the user when the coin is being inserted.
In the drawings, decorative designs to be applied to the formative
substance 14 are omitted.
As described in the foregoing, a saving box according to the present
invention comprises a cylindrical box body having a closed bottom, a
plurality of coin reservoirs each having a different diameter and formed
on the closed bottom at proper spaces in a predetermined direction in
order of diameter, a sorting disc acting as an upper surface of the box
body and provided with a plurality of openings corresponding to the coin
reservoirs, a guide sleeve formed within the box body at a central portion
thereof and having a vertical groove, an operating rod engaging with the
vertical groove and extending upwardly of the box body, spring means
disposed within the guide sleeve and normally biasing the operating rod
upwardly, moving blade means slightly contacting an upper surface of the
sorting disc and engaging a spiral groove formed in an outer peripheral
surface of the operating rod, an outer surface disc overlaid on and spaced
away, by a predetermined distance, from an upper surface of the moving
blade means and having a coin insertion port, and a soft formative
substance having a proper form mounted on the surface disc, an upper
extension end of the operating rod being in opposite relation to an inner
surface of a top portion of the soft formative substance. Accordingly,
coins having a certain diameter (i.e., one sort of coins) are positively
accumulated in the corresponding one of the coin reservoirs. Furthermore,
since the soft formative substance mounted on the surface disc is expanded
or contracted to change its shape, etc. when a coin is being inserted, the
user's attention is attracted. As a result, the saving effect is enhanced.
Moreover, the simpleness in construction of the saving box, as well as its
feature for changing the shape, etc. of the formative substance creates a
feel something very familiar and close to our daily life.
While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiment, it
should be understood that the present invention is by no means limited to
this embodiment. Obviously, many changes and modifications can be made
without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
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